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By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer
ATLANTA—When it comes to talking about himself, Father Walter
Foley, who celebrates his 25th anniversary as a priest this October, is a man
of few words. Yet when it comes to spreading God’s word, his proclivity is
to preach and to teach.
Father Foley and three other priests marking jubilee anniversaries
were recognized June 6 for their service to the archdiocese at a Mass
celebrated by Archbishop John F. Donoghue at the Cathedral of Christ the King.
“I just do my thing, whatever is necessary. I’m not very
good at explaining myself. I feel very uncomfortable talking about myself. I
like to preach and I like to teach. It’s just one of those things,”
said Father Foley, 72, who is retired, but still fills in as needed celebrating
weekend Masses. “When you give a homily, you’re talking about the
Lord. I’m not a psychologist giving a spirituality pep talk.”
A close friend, Msgr. Paul Reynolds, under whom Father Foley
served as a parochial vicar at St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, affirmed his
obvious power at the podium and in the pulpit. At St. John Neumann, he
recalled, many members would compliment Father Foley’s abilities.
“He was an exceptionally fine teacher and preacher, gifted,
very gifted. It’s just a talent, one of those given talents he has. As a
teacher he’s very enthusiastic . . . He has a very good way of presenting
ideas and concepts. He’s humorous and he uses those things to go with
(being) a gifted speaker. He uses very helpful illustrations and when he’s
teaching you know he’s giving you the messages he lives,” Msgr.
Reynolds said. “You get that feeling he’s a very sincere guy.”
A blunt aspect of his sincerity showed through in Father
Foley’s comment about his own jubilee anniversary. “You can’t
get too excited about 25,” he said.
Born and raised in Princeton, N.J., Father Foley’s priestly
ministry in the archdiocese began on Oct. 23, 1976, when he was ordained at the
Cathedral by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan. He served his first assignment as
a parochial vicar at Holy Family Church, Marietta, and then was assigned in
1978 as a parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Church, Decatur, where he served
for two years.
In 1980, he began four years of service as a parochial vicar at
St. John Neumann Church. He served his first pastorate from 1984-88 at St.
Joseph Church in Dalton and also served as dean of the northwest rural deanery.
He became pastor of St. John Neumann Church in 1988 and in 1991 became pastor
of St. Anthony Church in Blue Ridge. He served as a parochial vicar at St. Pius
X Church in Conyers from 1994-95 and was pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church
in Hartwell from 1995 until his retirement in 1998. During that time, beginning
in 1996, Father Foley served as dean of the northeast rural deanery. In the
1980s he served at one time as the archbishop’s liaison to the Catholic
charismatic renewal and he participated in the charismatic renewal movement for
four years. “You have to blame that on the Holy Spirit,” he jokingly
said.
Father Foley earned a bachelor’s degree in education at St.
Edward’s University, Austin, Texas, before graduating from St. Meinrad
School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Ind. He entered religious life as a
teenager, becoming a Holy Cross brother at 19. “I wanted to follow the
Lord and so I did. It took a long time though.”
A Religious for 26 years, he served for 11 years as a missionary
in Uganda, East Africa, where he was in charge of a teacher training college,
and he also taught high school in Indianapolis and in Flushing, N.Y.
In Africa he served with a priest from Georgia, which led him to
study for the priesthood for this archdiocese.
“I wanted to teach something else besides school, mainly the
Gospel and all that went with that, and that led me to Georgia,” he
recalled.
His experience in Uganda, which was undergoing political conflict
and at war when he was there, helped prepare him for challenges that came
later.
“I put my hand up and I said, ‘I’ll go.’ They
asked for volunteers. It’s called adventure,” he said. “It was
just another step on the journey. It gave me a lot of patience.”
For Father Foley, following the Lord centers on the Eucharist.
Believing there is a general lack of understanding by the laity of the words of
the Mass, he “and the Holy Spirit” for the past two years have been
working on a book about their meaning.
“Everything is centered around the Eucharist, my personal
life, preaching life, community life,” he said. “To me the Mass is
pretty much everything. Everything revolves around it—not the
preaching—the Mass. Preaching is something else—I’m not a
Protestant.”
Nevertheless, he said, he and the Holy Spirit “do
considerable preparation” for homilies. He’s more open to talk about
himself when it’s in the context of trying to communicate something to
someone, he added. For homilies, “we write, we practice and we pray and
then do it again and again.”
Msgr. Reynolds, vicar general in curia, who plays golf with him
about once a month, is grateful for his friendship with a man who really
“preaches what he practices.”
“He’s very inspiring. He’s a wonderful
priest,” he said. “He’s very, very charming and a wonderful
friend and an absolutely gifted teacher and preacher.”
Msgr. Reynolds referred to his friend’s reluctance to promote
himself as part of his humility. “He’s a very humble man. He
doesn’t like too much adulation. He certainly wouldn’t start blowing
his own horn.”
And along with that humility is a “great sense of
humor,” Msgr. Reynolds continued, noting that recently Father Foley
celebrated Mass at St. Pius X Church where he ended his homily breaking into
the song “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong to the delight
of the congregation. “He’s spontaneous—that’s part of his
ability as a teacher or preacher, a delightful spontaneity.” |
